How To Learn Programming
There are few students who have asked us few tips on programming. By just watch a video or listening to a programming class will not make you professional in programming. Here is a list of tips for programming/coding.
- Don’t buy books and waste money try to Google it and watch videos on YouTube.
- Try to use PDF or eBooks available online.
- Don’t copy, paste the code try to type it out.
- Look at the example code
- When you learn coding, make sure you write it down on a paper or note it in your computer
- Don’t read the code – run it
- Always have a backup of your programming files
- Try to understand the code
- Learn to use a debugger
- Try to write your own program once you learn it
- Code your program on Linux to get better experience
- Experiment with changes of the code
- Try to pick one programming language and learn it until the end
- Learn basic programming languages like Python, Java, Html, C
- Learn the core concepts of the language
- Focus on one concept at a time
- Examine the syntax
Here is a small video which will explain you more clearly
There is no standard process of learning to code but still there are lot of guidelines, courses, ideologies and set traditions, but there is no one single correct way.
Learning to code is quite easy when one devotes sufficient amount of time and effort, you can develop very strong skills on programming short amount of time.
- Get started with C, C++ or Java because these are the standard languages used in any programming competition.
- Learn C++ if you are already good at C because it is the most popular language and it has speed and an excellent library in the form of STL (Standard Template Library).
- There are high quality website to learn coding online such as code.org and many more
- To start with coding start with simple problems that requires to transform English to code and does not require any knowledge on algorithms
- At the beginning stage of coding we no need to write long pieces of code which is actually not required. Try to keep the codes short, simple and easy.
- Keep on practicing the problems until you become famous with it
- Start using basic algorithms. You can learn them from here – Topcoder
- Once you have the knowledge to solve popular algorithms, you can start solving the medium level problems.
- Try to participate regularly in programming contests. Solve the problems which you cannot solve in the contest.
- Read the codes of high rated programmers. Compare your solution with them. Analyse how they have improved your skills.
- Always practice the problems that you could not solve in the contest
- Do not spend too much time if your stuck somewhere. Understand the algorithm and code it. Do not look at the answer before you have tried to write the code on your own.
- Programming is a hands on skill. You have to be good at it. It’s not enough to solve the problem theoretically, you have to code it and get the solution accepted. Knowing which algorithm to use and implementing it are two different things. It takes both to be good at programming.
- Learning to code is going to take a lot of time and the key is practicing regularly. Do not give up on reading the post, try to implementing them, even if it takes many hours/days. Remember everything requires practice to master it.
The final tips is Giving up is not the key here.
